Lombard League

The Lombard League was an alliance of Guelph city-states in northern Italy's Lombardy region formed in 1167 to combat the Holy Roman Empire and its intrusive bishops, existing until Emperor Frederick II of Germany's death in 1250 and the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. The League's core members were Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and Venice, while Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Vercelli, Lodi, Parma, and Ferrara were other member city-states of the league. The league was not explicitly separatist, but it challenged the emperor's claim to power, and it allied with the Papal States against the Emperor during his campaigns in Italy. The league's two most famous victories were the Battle of Legnano in 1176 and the Battle of Parma in 1248, defeating the Holy Roman Emperors' attempts to invade Italy. The league would dissolve in 1250 on the death of Frederick II.